Ludovic Morlot

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Ludovic Morlot

Conductor

The Harriet Overton Stimson Music Director

French conductor Ludovic Morlot has been Music Director of the Seattle Symphony since 2011. Among the many highlights of his tenure, the orchestra have won three Grammy Awards and gave an exhilarating performance at Carnegie Hall in 2014, as reported in The New York Times: “The performance Mr. Morlot coaxed from his players was rich with shimmering colors and tremulous energy.”

During the 2017–2018 season Morlot and the Seattle Symphony will continue on their incredible musical journey, focusing particularly on the music of Berlioz, Stravinsky and Bernstein. In addition, they will be presenting some exciting new works by John Luther Adams, David Lang and Andrew Norman and welcoming Alexandra Gardner for a residency. The orchestra will also be performing on tour in California, including a two-day residency at the University of California, Berkeley. The orchestra has many successful recordings, available on their own label, Seattle Symphony Media. A box set of music by Dutilleux was recently released to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

This season, Morlot will be conducting at Seattle Opera for the first time (Berlioz Béatrice et Bénédict), make his debut with the Orchestra of St Luke’s and will return to the Atlanta and Houston Symphony Orchestras. He has regular relationships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York and Los Angeles philharmonics. Morlot also has a particularly strong connection with the Boston Symphony Orchestra having been Seiji Ozawa Fellowship Conductor in 2001 at Tanglewood and subsequently appointed assistant conductor for the orchestra and their Music Director James Levine (2004–07). Since then he has conducted the orchestra in subscription concerts in Boston, at Tanglewood and on a tour to the west coast of America.

Outside North America, recent and future debuts include the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Symphony (closing concert of the prestigious Wien Modern Festival), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, MDR Leipzig and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras. Morlot has conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London and on tour in Germany. Other recent notable performances have included the Royal Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Tonhalle, Budapest Festival, Orchestre National de France, Helsinki Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Morlot served as conductor in residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon under David Robertson (2002–04).

Morlot was Chief Conductor of La Monnaie for three years (2012–14). During this time he conducted several new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenůfa and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Britten, Webern and Bruneau.

Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle.